It was way cool to be a leader and watch the way that everyone responded to a slightly tough period.

Heia!

Well another week has come and gone here in Trondheim!  I am glad to hear that things are still going well at home though!

The past week has been a pretty good one.  It has really started to feel like winter time has been rolling in.  It is getting dark earlier and earlier, which means it is starting to get cold here.  I can't believe that the sommer has already passed.  It just feels so wierd!

As far as the work goes though things have been pretty slow.  We have a couple people that we are working with but all of last week it was a struggle to get in contact with them.  So it really was just a lot of walking around and trying to find people to teach.  So that was kind of hard because I want to set a good example for Elder N and give him lots of experience teaching and what not.  I think that things will begin to pick up here in the next week; we have lots of good potentials now and we hope to have a lot of teaches! 

I think that the highlight of the week was when we had a meeting as a district on Saturday to trying and set some goals that could bring us together as a district.  It was way cool to be a leader and watch the way that everyone responded to a slightly tough period.  Everyone banded together and really set some high goals.  People became engaged and started asking for ways to show the Lord their commitment, it really came to be a self motivated thing!  I think the Lord really blessed us with his spirit as we tried to respond to the trials that we have had!  So that was a real high point of the week personally as well as an area.

Elder N is doing great, he is learning a lot and is really doing a great job.  I could not have asked for a better person to train.  He is eager to try things and willing to go the extra mile.  He is super easy going but at the same time very driven.  We get a long really well.  He played basketball and football in school, so that kind of makes things super easy haha!  I really could not be more happy with him.  He is going to be a great elder and already is one!

Other than that there is not a whole lot of things to talk about.  We went out to a mans cabin last week so I will be sending home some pictures of that!  We have all the members of the Trondhiem district there so they are pretty sweet. We also got to go see a castle last week, so I will have to show a picture of that as well.

Anyways, thank you so much for the support!  Keep being so awesome!

Jeg elsker deg!

Eldste Jones

IT IS AMAZING TO BE WORKING FOR THE LORD!

Heia!

Well thanks a ton for those stories Mom!  That was great to hear that you were able to that temple work and that they were able to accept it!  It truely is a blessing to get to serve those around us, especially when that service is being acceptted!

In reference to your question about datter and dotter, it is a question of which language it is.  Dotter is Danish, and datter is Norwegian.  However when Norway was under danish rule it would have been spelled dotter here in Norway as well since the language was heavily influenced by danish.  Fun fact for you!

It has been a good week.  I felt like I said this last week, but ya Elder N is here in Norway... he has been here for like 10 days now.  So Elder A went up to Tromsø.  So this last week was my first full week of training.  That was absolutely great though, Elder N and I get along great and it will be a great time to learn!  So I am really excited for the next couple of weeks.  Unfortunately we have another group of 12 elders coming in in about 3 weeks, transfers are on October 2.  So it is possible that I will only have the next three weeks with him and then I will get a new companion to train!  But I am not totally sure about that, I really hope that I can train elder N for the full 12 weeks. 

In relation to the last week we had a couple more cool experiences.  One was with a girl named V, she is now an investigator that we are meeting with.  We had a really intense teach that revolved around some very controversial subjects, but during the teach we came to find out that she had been thinking about baptism a lot!  She had even talked with her family and friends about it and what not.  Unfortunately there is alot of opposition facing her, but we are really excited to continue teaching her.  She also shared some really cool experiences with us about why she was investigating the church, so all in all, it was a crazy teach.  I will not come to forget it!

S is doing great. He is integrating with the ward well.  He came to church on Sunday and passed the sacrament for the first time! It is so cool to see him already exercizing his priesthood! 

We did have a lot of difficulty getting in touch with our other investigator though and setting up appointments.  So that made for a slightly rough week.  But we are excited to start a fresh this week and helping those around us!

I think that is pretty much it for the past week though. It is starting to get dark here.  I saw the Moon for the first time in like 4 months last night!  So that was pretty cool!  It is getting dark around 7.30 now. But we lose 6 minutes of light a day... so it will be sooner than that next week!

Anyways, thanks for everything you do!  I really do appreciate the things you do for me!  It is amazing to be working for the Lord and having a family behind me that loves me as much as you do!

Jeg elsker deg så mye!  Jeg vet at Jesus Kristus er vår frelser og forløser, han har kraft over alt, og det betyr at han har kraft til å hjelp oss i hvilken som helst situasjoner vi befinnes i!

Igjen elsker jeg deg!

Din sønn,

Eldste Jones

It was amazing though to feel the spirit at the baptism, it was just a testimony to me that the things that I am doing everyday really do bring happiness into our lives.

Heia!

Things are going so great here! S WAS BAPTIZED!

So ya i just thought I would start with that!  There is a lot of god news though, so it might be a long email!

First things first, We had zone leader training on Tuesday, which was my first meeting as a zone leader. It went really well, unfortunately we had some mishaps with the planes as people tried to fly in that day, one of the planes hit a bird and was grounded for a while so the Narvik companionship only came for like the last hour of the meeting.  But all in all it was pretty sweet!

Next I went on splits to Alta!  So I was officially the most northern missionary in the world for a day!  I left on Wednesday afternoon and then came back Friday morning.  that meand that I have now taken 30 flights on my mission!  That was a really fun experience, I was there with Elder H.  He is a stud and I really learned a lot from him.  The Elders there actually stay with some members on there Farm, so that was a pretty cool experience as well.  One of the members is named Geir, he has sort of a mental handicap so he on has the mental capacity of an 8 year old, but he loves the missionaries.  So on thursday night before I left we had a little disco with him.  That is like his favorite thing to do.  By disco I mean we had a sing and dance a long with him.  He made some songs up and recorded them, so all the missionaries that go there have to learn the songs and do them with him.  It might sound really wierd, which it was, but it was a blast haha!

Next piece of good news!  I got Elder N!  He arrived here in Norway on Wednesday and then came to Trondheim on Friday!  So I was way pumped for that!  The best part was that Elder A got to stay here for the baptism and preform the baptism! So both of the Elders got to see the baptism on Saturday!

Now to the baptism!  I have pictures, but sister H has them, so I have to have her send them to me then I can forward them!  But ya, it went great. I gave a talk, then Elder Ashton got to baptize him and then we had a really good party afterwards.  So things went great.  Then a bunch of the members invited him to play Soccer with him like right afterwards so he was well intregrated with the ward!  On Sunday we had the Ward Mission Leader give him the gift of the Holy ghost.  He also got the aaronic priesthood that sunday, so it was just lots of spiritual moments for him!

We also had E come to Church as well, so that was pretty great for us to still have someone that is looking pretty positive to be working with even after having a baptism.

It was amazing though to feel the spirit at the baptism, it was just a testimony to me that the things that I am doing everyday really do bring happiness into our lives.  I had some real polarizing experiences this week that just showed me how beatiful it is to have the gospel and the truth in our lives.  So I am very thankful for that!

Thanks for everything that you do for me!  It really makes a difference to have you there! 

Jeg elsker deg så mye, utrolig mye!

Din sønn,

Eldste Jones

WELL IT HAS BEEN AN ABSOLUTELY AMAZING WEEK!

Heisann!

Well it has been absolutley amazing week!  I can't believe it went by so fast!

So questions first, there are 20 missionaries in the North (including the ZLs).  My wieght is about the same, I do get fed a little bit more here, I am still about 205.  There is 4 zones in the mission.  I still have no idea about when elder N will get his visa so ya... still waiting on that.  Things are going great though with Elder A so I am happy I get some more time with him.  I am just as confused about the visa thing now as you are... so I don't know what to tell you haha.

Other than that there is lots of stuff to talk about.  I guess I can start with the good stuff that has been happening with S.  The baptism is on for this week!  He knows that everything is true and he is prepared to move forward and make the covenant with our heavenly father!  He came to lots of activities last week to, so he is becoming well integrated with the ward.  He actually came and played soccer with all of the missionaries on Monday as part of the conference that we had as well, so he is just an awesome guy! The best part is that we really didn't do anything, he is just being taught by the spirit as things move along!  So amazing how the Lord blesses those who act in faith and do as he asks!

Now about the conference that we had!  It was amazing!  I really don't even know how to describe it.  It began on monday when all the missionaries came into town and we had sports all day monday and then we had 3 hours to work with everyone that night, that was all amazing.  Then we had our meeting for the west and north zones on Tuesday here in Trondheim.   About 5 minutes before the program started we had a meeting with all of the zone leaders and assistents and Elder Kearon.  It was very short but the spirit was just unbelieveable.  I knew that he was a servant sent to us from the lord.  The meeting then began he shared his insights and led us through a discussion.  My biggest observation was that he taught us repentance, without using the word repentance.  He goal was to help us change, to become better missionaries, to be the people the Lord wants us to be.  He focused on the things that we could do personally to help make this change happen.  I don't know if I have ever seen a more effective teacher since I have been on my mission.  He knew how to focus on an individual, draw out further commentary, to be engaging to a group at the same time.  It really was incredible to see the influence of the spirit on those around us as he taught.  It really is kind of hard to capture the full image in words, you had to be there to comprehend it fully.

So then after that we had splits with the travelling assistents on Wednesday.  That was amazing as well, I learned a lot of cool new ways to be a better missionary out on the street and just how to be a more effective leader through watching there example.  They also helped to get a new baptismal date!  Elder B one of the travelling AP's also had served in Trondheim, so he led us to find one of his former investigators.  Her name is E and we met with her twice last week and got a baptismal date!  So that was amazing!  Small mircales just happened everywhere to make that happen.

On Thursday I went to Oslo to have a mission leadership council with Elder Kearon to wrap up his mission tour.  I might have learned more about teaching in that meeting than I did in the previous meeting with Elder Kearon.  It was so much more personal, so much more in depth.  So I think my last description times two would suffice to describe this experience.  The meeting helped to draw a focus for where the mission needs to go in the closing of the year.  I was really happy to be able to take part in that powerful experience, I know once again that Elder Kearon was a servant of the Lord.

The rest of the week went great as well. Elder L and I began to work on our Zone leader training for next week and Elder A and I just kept working and meeting more people (Elder L ends his mission in 8.5 months).  We had a a couple people in Church as well so it really was just a great week!

Æ elska dæ så mye!

Din sønn,

Eldste Jones

HE IS FOR SURE READY TO BE BAPTIZED ON THE 7TH!

Heia!

 Well things here are going well!  It has been a pretty hectic week.  I have been learning a lot and having great experiences!  Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to write today so I will be trying to get the high lights!

We met with S a couple more times this week and he is doing great.  He also came to church on Sunday.  He is for sure ready to be baptized on the 7th!  So that is pretty exciting.  Other than that we had a super amazing week.  Unfortunately I don't have my new companion, he didn't get his visa so he is still in the states.  So right now I am continuing to serve with Elder A.  It will continue to be like this until Elder N gets his visa.  So ya.  Zone leader has been pretty good, we have been prepping for the conference tomorrow.  Elder Kearon will be here tomorrow and we have the conference all day.  Anyways I have a ton of missionaries that are waiting so I will try and catch up next week!

Jeg elsker deg!

Din sønn,

Eldste Jones

HE HAS A BAPTISMAL DATE FOR SEPTEMBER 7

Dang!  I am super jealous about the trip, it sounds super nice!  I am excited for the next trip I can come on with everyone!

As far as the new assignment, it starts on Wednesday!  I will be Zone leader with elder L but serving in a Companionship with my new companion Elder N who will be coming into the land on Tuesday.  So I will also be training him as well as serving as district leader.  So yeah lots of different stuff going on with this next little bit.  

This week has been way busy!  I went to Oslo and Mo i Rana!  So lots of travel.  I think that I spent like 2000 Kroner this week in travel, excluding my actual plane tickets... so ya it has been a crazy week.

Oslo was amazing, we had two meetings for training.  We had a training for trainers and then Mission leadership training.  Both were amazing, I really loved it and getting to hear more from president.

The things here in Trondheim have really picked up.  We actually got a baptismal date!  We taught him once last week and then once this week. .\  Both of our teaches with him were simple, but between them he read and prayed and found out that the Book of Mormon is true!  He has a baptismal date for September 7th.

Other than we went to Mo i Rana for a baptism.  That was way fun, we baptized the man in a Fjord, it was pretty cool.  Then Elder L and I took a 7 hour train ride back to Trondheim, that was absolutely a blast.  Except for the part where we were accused of planning to hijack the train!

This girl was sitting there and heard us talking in English and couldn't understand what we were talking about.  So she thought we were planning to hijack the train, so to make a long story short we were escorted to the front to face our accuser and had to sort everything out.  it was really awkward and embarrassing.  After that elder L and I decided to start speaking Norwegian just to be safe.

It was a good week filled with good experiences, lots of stuff that is now starting to happening in the work.  I think that Trondheim and the North zone is about to explode!

But that is about it for the last week.

Jeg elsker deg!

Eldste Jones

I just love those moments when we know that we are doing what the Lord wants us to!

Heia!

Yes mom, I got the hint!  Unfortunately I haven't really had a chance to take any pictures quite yet.  It has been a very busy little bit of time.  I will try and take a couple today with Elder A and send them to you a little later.  We all just went and got haircuts so we should be looking pretty good!  I also managed to hit 205 today!  So things are still going well in that department!

Other than that I guess I can answer your questions.  Our apartment here is by far the nicest apartment in Norway that I have been to.  We actually live with the Zone Leaders who work here in Trondheim as well.  We have two floors, a bedroom downstairs and then a giant loft area/bedroom upstairs (that is where elder A and I sleep) and then a huge kitchen and then 2 rooms for studies.  So needless to say our place is huge!  It is way nice though because we have these nice curtains that block out all the light (Not that that is really needed anymore since it is getting to be dark again. We are losing 6 minutes of light a day here). So that is all great!

We are two of the 8 missionaries here in Trondheim.  So there is a huge missionary force here in Trondheim.  Unfortunately when Elder A and myself arrived we had absolutely nothing going on.  So these past two weeks have been rough.  We have been trying to find everyone we can with not much avail.  So we will continue to work and try and find those that are ready for us.  Luckily for us the sisters are really killing it here.  They are all having great success and are really making stuff happen.  So that makes my job pretty easy as district leader when everyone else is already amazing! 

We had a pretty cool experience though over the past week.  Last sunday on the way to Church we met this woman named M on the way to church.  She was from mexico and was actually on the way to church herself!  We talked to her and found out that she had spoken to missionaries before and wanted to speak again so we got her number and said we would call here later in the week.  So on Wednesday we did that.  We got an appointment but we didn't have a member to be with us which was something we needed because we cannot teach a single woman.  So we invited the sisters along, who actually were struggling after their hard week the week before.  They were able to be there and take part.  About 5 minutes into the teach elder A felt the impression to go check a man who was sitting out in the hall.  We went out and he was standing there waiting for us, he wanted us to give him a blessing.  We asked to sisters to continue teaching and we went to give this man a blessing.  As we finished we were sitting there and we felt the impression to just let the sisters have the investigator.  That was a little hard because we didn't really have anyone but we went ahead and let them have her and we just left and started working again. 

About an hour later we saw M on the Street.  She said that she had to say thank you to us for introducing us to those girls.  She told us that 'They explained everything so clearly, like no one has ever done before!'  So it was an amazing testimony to us that we had been really guided by the spirit to choose the sisters as our companions for the teach and then have the courage to do what was necessary for those we serve!

I just love those moments when we know that we are doing what the Lord wants us to! 

I know this work is true and that we are being guided by the Lord every second of the day if we just listen to the small things!

Jeg elsker deg så mye moren min!

Din sønn,

Eldste Jones